Tesla is the marque in many automaker’s sights — just as Tesla takes aim at BMW and the other automakers. And since Tesla’s plan is to build a lithium-ion battery factory bigger than the world’s current lithium-ion production capacity — the company is also one of the potential big players in the race to distributed storage and battery-based grid support services.

In any case, here’s the recent EV news:

$30 Million More in Venture Capital for Electric Bus Builder Proterra

Proterra, a maker of electric municipal buses, raised $30 million in fourth-round funding co-led by KPCB and GM Ventures, according to a press release. The firm has raised a total of more than $180 million in VC funding from investors including Hennessey Capital, NMT Capital, Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, 88 Green Ventures and Vision Ridge Partners. “Another $10 million in funding is expected to close within the coming weeks” from Edison Energy and Constellation Technology Ventures, the VC arm of Exelon, according to the firm.

Buses drive fixed routes at moderate speeds and most bus routes are less than 30 miles, so they’re an ideal application for electric vehicles. The relatively predictable short distances traveled lets Proterra minimize the size of the battery pack — with battery packs in the 54-kilowatt-hour to 72-kilowatt-hour range. The Tesla Model S has an 85 kilowatt-hour pack.

When we last reported on the firm, Proterra’s buses were priced higher (at about $900,000) compared to conventional buses (at about $500,000) but the EV buses save $50,000 per year in diesel costs.

Motiv Power Raises $7.3 Million for Electrifying Trucks and Buses

Motiv Power Systems raised $7.3 million in a round led by Colorado’s Magness Investment Group for an electric bus, albeit of the school bus variety. Motiv supplies a power train control system that can electrify a truck or bus chassis with any number of commercially-available battery packs and motors. It’s sort of a drop-in replacement called a “ship-through modification,” akin to a CNG modification. Commercial truck and bus builders can use it to build all-electric box trucks, refrigerated trucks, utility/service trucks, shuttle buses, school buses and delivery vehicles.

As GTM’s Katie Tweed reported, “The buses cost about twice as much as a comparable gas bus, but cost one-eighth as much to fuel and one-third as much to maintain,” according to Jim Castelaz, CEO of Motiv, adding, “Over the life of a school bus, two to three times the cost of the vehicle is spent on fuel and maintenance.”

BMW i3: “The Second Best Electric Car That Money Can Buy”

BMW’s electric vehicle is now available in the U.S.

An investor in the automotive sector has noted that BMW is “being disrupted by Tesla, no question.” He added that a significant proportion of the $3 billion of Tesla’s recent revenue would be BMW’s.

BMW has an issue that Tesla doesn’t — BMW has to ensure that it doesn’t cannibalize its own 3-series sales. And that means that its EV, the i3 sub-brand, has to fill a different niche than its 3-Series.

The reviewer at ExtremeTech wrote that “driving the i3 feels sportier than every other non-Tesla EV I’ve driven and it’s quicker than the Leaf-Focus Electric genre,” but added that the car “is not a sports sedan. You’re quickly aware that every time you stomp on the throttle, click on the seat heaters, or crank up the air conditioning, driving range suffers. The skinny 70-series tires are optimized for economy. But, oh, yes, when you step hard on the throttle, the i3 is as quick from rest as most any car you’ve ever owned other than, say, a twin-turbo gas-engine Bimmer. 0-60 mph takes about 7 seconds.”

The fully equipped city car with a 22-kilowatt-hour battery pack and approximate 100-mile range will cost about $40,000 after a $7,500 government rebate.

The reviewer at Fortune magazine wrote, that the car “can go 0 to 60 m.p.h. in 7.2 seconds with a top speed of 93 — more than enough for any daily driver,” adding, “Perhaps what most impressed me about the i3 was the roomy interior, which the company says has about the same amount of space as its 3-Series.” Fortune added “Despite the i3’s boxy style — you’ll either love it or hate it — it is definitely a BMW.”

And be on the lookout for the 3-cylinder turbo, plug-in hybrid, 357-horsepower BMW i8 coming in July with a starting price tag of $135,700.

BMW’s i3 electric vehicle

BMW’s i8 3-cylinder turbo, plug-in hybrid

Electric Harley-Davidson?

A tipping point of sorts has been reached if Harley-Davidson is even considering adding an EV to its line-up. The 52-mile-range LiveWire is currently limited to a small fleet of lithium-ion-powered prototypes as the company gauges public reaction.

Boston-Power Looking to Raise $250 Million to Compete With Elon Musk’s GigaFactory

The Wall Street Journal’s Yuliya Chernova reported earlier this month that privately-held lithium-ion battery maker Boston-Power was looking to raise $250M “to compete with Elon Musk.” Sonny Wu, Boston-Power’s chairman confirmed the firm’s fundraising and spoke of an eventual IPO in the U.S.

Boston-Power was VC-funded in the U.S. but has since moved the bulk of its operations to China. The startup raised more than $100 million from GSR Ventures, Oak Investment Partners and Foundation Asset Management.

When we last reported on Boston-Power, the firm was supplying battery systems to Beijing Electric Vehicle, the electric vehicle delivery arm of Beijing Automotive Industry Company.

Greentech Media (GTM) produces industry-leading news, research, and conferences in the business-to-business greentech market. Our coverage areas include solar, smart grid, energy efficiency, wind, and other non-incumbent energy markets. For more information, visit: greentechmedia.com , follow us on twitter: @greentechmedia, or like us on Facebook: facebook.com/greentechmedia.

Prior to joining Greentech Media, Eric Wesoff founded Sage Marketing Partners in 2000 to provide sales and marketing-consulting services to venture-capital firms and their portfolio companies in the alternative energy and telecommunications sectors. Mr. Wesoff has become a well-known, respected authority and speaker in these fields. He also was the publisher of the Venture Power newsletter, a subscription-only newsletter covering venture-capital investment in renewable energy.